Five different players reached the end zone Thursday in the University of Minnesota Duluth football's season opening win over Northern Michigan University 35-7 on Thursday night at Superior Dome in Marquette, Mich.

Redshirt junior quarterback Kyle Walljasper led the Bulldogs passing attack with 312 yards through the air, tossing four touchdowns while adding 45 yards on the ground in just three quarters under center. UMD's offense piled up a total of 562 yards to the Wildcats' 112, and the Bulldogs had a 385-56 advantage through the air.

UMD struck first with 5:51 remaining in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the game after a 12-yd pass from Walljasper to redshirt freshman wide receiver Ryder Patterson -- the first of Patterson's career -- to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead. Walljasper and UMD struck again with just 1:43 left in the second quarter on a 40 yard pass to the end zone for redshirt junior DaShaun Ames, one of five catches the wide receiver had in the game for a game-high 126 yards.

After leading the Wildcats just 13-0 at halftime, the Bulldogs erupted for three more touchdowns in the second half. Daniel Mitchell hauled in a 7-yd pass from Walljasper with 8:25 left in the third quarter, and a fake extra point by the Bulldogs led to a pass from Logan Kobus to Nick Ojile to stretch UMD's advantage to 21-0. WIth 40 seconds left in the same quarter, Walljasper hit graduate tight end Sam Pitz with a 10 yd pass, and Pitz powered his way into the end zone to pick up his first TD of the season and Walljasper's fourth of the contest.  Walljasper completed 70.4% of his passes on the night, going 19-for-27 and averaging 11.6 yards per attempt, while his 312 passing yards was not only a career-high, but the most by a Bulldog QB in seven years.

Redshirt sophomore QB Jacob Eggert picked right up where Walljasper left off in the fourth, throwing a game-long 56-yd touchdown pass to Chuck Gilbert III just 2:30 in quarter to put the Bulldogs up a commanding 35-0. The redshirt freshman WR made his presence known in the passing game Thursday, compiling 115 yards on three receptions in addition to his first career TD.

Defensively, UMD did an impressive job limiting the NMU offensive attack, and held the Wildcats to 112 total yards – the fewest yards allowed in a season opener since the 2008 season. The Bulldogs kept the Wildcats under 100 yards on both the ground and through the air, allowing only 56 passing and 56 rushing yards. Redshirt sophomore Jarrett Bennett paced the UMD defensive effort, recording five tackles, 0.5 TFL, and one interception. Junior DE Matt Weerts added three tackles, 1.5 TFL. In all, nine UMD tackles resulted in a loss Thursday night.

With the win, UMD improved 1-0 on the young season and 65-22-4 all-time in season opening games, including 8-3 over head coach Curt Wiese's tenure, which now includes five-straight wins. Aidan Hoard led the Wildcats passing attack, completing six of his 16 attempts for 56 yards and one touchdown with one interception, while Jahi Wood led the NMU rushing attack with 22 yards.

The Bulldogs (1-0) will hit the turf of Malosky Stadium next when they host Minnesota State University, Moorhead on Sept. 14, which will also serve as Military Appreciation Day. Game time for UMD's first Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference contest is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.

BULLDOG NOTES: UMD is now 3-11 all-time against the Wildcats, picking up back-to-back wins against NMU for the first time in program history … Daniel Mitchell led all Bulldogs rushers with 55 yards in the contest, picking up 27.5 yards per carry … UMD converted on 50 percent of third-down attempts … .both DaShaun Ames (126) and Chuck Gilbert III (115) earned more than 100 yard receiving yards in the game …. UMD converted 6-of-12 third downs while NMU was 4-of-15 … the Bulldogs were 1-for-2 on fourth down, and won the time of possession battle 33:51 to 26:09 … UMD's defense held a team to just 112 yards of offense for the first time in a season opener since it held Concordia St. Paul to 112 back on August 30, 2008 … the Bulldogs offensive effort of 385 total yards was the most in a season opener since the 2021 season.